Decisions

When You Have Difficult Decisions

Pray About The Decision

Mar 14:32 They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed."

Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray Him and give the Rulers of the Jews means to fulfill their desire to kill Him. As God in the flesh Jesus knew what was to be done but the human side of Jesus did not relish the idea of the beatings, the scourging of the whip and the death on the cross. Jesus, the human, had a decision to make and for that He consulted God, His Father in prayer.

Mar 14:33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.

Jesus, the human, was a man of courage. On the History channel, this week, I saw WW II and Korea fighter pilot and Ace, Boots Blesse, and he described courage and I laughed out loud and very hard. Many have asked me and have not understood what Boots said and what I told people that asked. Every time I entered aerial combat I was scared but in spite of the fear I did what needed to be done, my duty. In like manor, the human side of Jesus wanted no part of what was coming.

Mar 14:34 And He *said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch."

Just as King David's Mighty Men of Valor tended to congeal into a unit and draw strength from one another, Jesus was modeling that to His followers the need for a need for reinforcement of one's self through comradeship.

Mar 14:35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by.

In the prayer of Jesus we see that just as Mary knew she would, a virgin, give birth to the Son of God, Jesus knew His fate and obviously the reason for it.

Identify God's Will

Mar 14:36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."

I'm not 100% certain of many things and that is true of this passage. I know from my studies that Jesus said and did many things for our knowledge and I believe that is the case here. I see Jesus leading by example, He was teaching us how to submit to God.

Mar 14:37 And He *came and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?

There are a variety of thoughts concerning this passage and I believe that most of them are, in some manor, valid. What I take from this is the beginning of Peter's most difficult lesson of forgiveness and restoration. I see the rebuke common to most lines of thought but more importantly I see Jesus alerting Peter to mark and to recall this event that, almost immediately, follow Peter's declaration of complete faithfulness.

Mar 14:38 "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Here Jesus reinforces the need to be ever watchful and our need to pray for the Father to send us the help our fleshly bodies need to endure.

Mar 14:39 Again He went away and prayed, saying the same words.

In their sight He once more models the fighting stance of the Christian, on our knees or on our face in prayer.

Commit To Do God's Will

Mar 14:41 And He *came the third time, and *said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough; the hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

I feel that it is important to remember that Jesus have twelve legions of angels at His disposal as we read much of these events and from that knowledge it is hard to imagine that anything happened that He was not aware of. Jesus knew that Judas was betraying Him just as He knew when the woman with theissue of blood touched the hem of His garment. (Mark 5:25)

Mar 14:42 "Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"

Jesus knew exactly when Judas would return and in this passage gives us the eternal proof that He went to the beatings, scourging and cross willingly. Instead of fleeing and hiding, He marched forward, in command of His circumstance.

Mar 14:43 Immediately while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, *came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs, who were from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

Immediately, He was surrounded by the blood thirsty mob, prepared to do battle.

Mar 14:44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the one; seize Him and lead Him away under guard."

In collusion with the Sanhedrin, Judas had made a fool-proof plan to insure that, in the dark, no mistake could be made. He was unaware the commitment of Jesus to endure these events.

Keep The Commitment

Mar 14:45 After coming, Judas immediately went to Him, saying, "Rabbi!" and kissed Him.

Mar 14:46 They laid hands on Him and seized Him.

Judas fulfilled his part in this ungodly transaction for which he was paid 30 pieces of silver. In my research I have found that one piece of silver likely amounted to one denarii, or a days wages. Judas sold the life of Jesus for a months wages for a common laborer.

Mar 14:47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.

From John 18:10 we know that was Peter and while some seem to think they know more than the Word of God and believe that he might have taken the sword from one of the soldiers, I believe in the in-errancy of scripture tend to go with the idea that is supported by reading scripture. Peter was the first to proclaim that he would die before he allowed Jesus to be hung on a tree and seeing Peter's character in the scriptures, I find it more likely that Peter, who is much like me, would have armed himself and did not need to disarm one of the soldiers to be armed.

Mar 14:48 And Jesus said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a robber?

Jesus was treated as a common thief and was a bit incensed by the idea. Standing there, not resisting but instead healing Malchus by replacing his ear (Luke 22:51) and rebuking Peter (John 18:11) Jesus conducted Himself just as God should.

Mar 14:49 "Every day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me; but this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures."

Jesus admonished them with the reminder that they could have taken Him on any day at the Temple as He taught there.

Mar 14:50 And they all left Him and fled.

Just as Jesus had predicted, the disciples dispersed, fearing their own arrest.